The Pepy School

On Dec 23rd, we had a bumpy 6-hour bus ride up to Siem Reap. And the following day, we took an even bumpier road to the Pepy school. So a few years ago, a JET named Daniela, raised money to build and additional building to this school in Siem Reap. Now, they take volunteers there to teach lessons and do work, which is where we come in. The first day at the school we passed out new uniforms to the students, sanded, washed, and painted the front gate and fence, and taught. I taught a lesson on Christmas cards. Alexandra, whom I met on the trip, helped me with the lesson. The school is an elementary school, but there is a seventh grade class there, which is the class we taught. It was a lot of fun. The beginning of class is very structured with the formal greeting by the teacher and students, and when I said they could sit down they chanted, “Thank you teacher.” The level of respect of the students was very high. Although I am sure they were on their best behavior for the foreign teachers, I can imagine that it was pretty much the norm for them. Students begin to learn English in 4th grade, so by the 7th they could understand us pretty well, which is lucky because we had neither translator, nor teacher in the classroom. But we did have one amazing student named Chun Ly. He is super friendly, and is English is amazing. He was a great help to us.
The school itself had about 12 rooms. One was a small library, another the English classroom, and maybe one computer room. Before the additional building was built, all the students shared about 5 classrooms, and there are about 500 students total. The school day is about 4 hours, and the students come to school either in the morning or afternoon, but the truancy rate is very high. There is no electricity in the classrooms, except for maybe the computer room. I taught in the afternoon, and you could see the shadows being cast on the walls as the sun lowered in the sky. They must pump the water from a well. Some students are lent a bike so they can come to school. There was a bike ceremony that day handing out bikes to some new students.
There is some sort of fee that the families must pay for the children to go to school. So of course that means that some kids can’t enroll. But that doesn’t stop them. All day, there were small groups of children gathered by the windows of the classrooms listening to the lessons. For my Christmas card lesson, one of the kids outside even answered a question I was asking to the class. I thanked him even though I could barely see him outside. Once again, the level of poverty I was surrounded by struck me. There were no frills in these classrooms. Thinking back, I feel guilty for all the things that we have in classrooms in the US. It is so unequal. In Cambodia, they use US dollars, and the teachers make an average of $30 per month. Even in Japan, the teachers make the equivalent of about $25,000 per year. What an eye opening experience.
But universally, the students are the same in many ways. As they made their cards and drew pictures, I would give them words of encouragement, and the biggest smiles spread across their faces. That is one of the best parts of teaching.
These kids want to learn. Their families need them at home, but they want to come to school so they can have an education and make their lives and their families lives better. Boy are those spoiled American kids going to hear it when I get back: “Did you know that there are kids in Cambodia who want to learn so badly that they stand outside the classrooms listening to the lessons because they can’t afford to enroll in school!”
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox.